Downtown skating rink brings families together

Thursday

Feb 21, 2013 at 11:01 AM

By PHIL DEVITT

By PHIL DEVITT

Fall River Spirit Editor

He staggered, wobbled and tumbled along, but 5-year-old Lucas Correia wasn't going to let a lack of composure ruin his first time on skates. So every time he fell, he brushed himself off, giggled and pressed forward — the most fearless guy in the downtown Fall River skating rink.

His mother, Christina Carvalho, watched from a few feet away, ready with hugs, cheers and a pep talk.

"Beautiful! Amazing!" she shouted upon her son's longest uninterrupted glide.

"You OK, baby?" she asked a few seconds later when Lucas fell at center ice.

"He's determined," she said, smiling wide. "It's like walking in heels for the first time."

Carvalho laced two pairs of skates on her son in the numbing cold before finding the right fit, then lowered the boy onto the ice as he struggled to find balance. She cut her hand in the process.

"I'm bleeding, but it's OK," she said. "It's nice to just be out here. It's something different."

The temporary 60-by-40-foot rink on Sullivan Drive, open all school vacation week, is sponsored by Greater Fall River Re-Creation. With some support from the city's Community Development Agency, the organization signed a $17,000 contract with Artificial Ice Events of Peabody to set up a synthetic rink and supply skates to families free of charge.

The rink is open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 9 p.m.

"It seemed like a good idea with vacation week," Re-Creation Program Director Jamison Souza said. "That's what's happening in this city — great things, a renaissance."

Shortly after the rink's sunset opening Feb. 15, dozens of families had gathered outside Government Center to lace up and sip hot cocoa. Gary Reid took his 10-year-old daughter, Sarah, out for her first time on the white synthetic panels, or any rink for that matter.

"So far I've only seen her go down twice," said Reid, a Fall River resident who skated often as a child in upstate New York.

Initial unsteadiness prompted Sarah to grip the fence railing for support as she coasted from side to side. A younger girl nearby played it safe by wearing a hockey helmet.

For some children, skating Friday night was the first sweet taste of vacation freedom.